Jeff Bridges: Amateur Paparazzo

Of all the roles Oscar-nominee Jeff Bridges has played in his 30-year career, one of his faves is that of behind-the-scenes celebrity photographer!

The actor first turned shutterbug back in high school, prompting dad Lloyd Bridges to build his son a darkroom in their home. Later, the younger Bridges took to snapping candid photos of his movie co-stars strictly for his private collection. But in 1984, Bridges tells TV Guide Online, his Starman [co-star] "Karen Allen had the idea of making a gift book for cast and crew."

That was ages ago, but these yearbooks (of sorts) have been printed for almost every one of Bridges's films since. His latest book is for K-PAX  in which he currently co-stars with Kevin Spacey  and is coffee-table worthy, featuring beautiful, wide-angle black-and-white images with handwritten captions.

Unfortunately, these albums aren't available in stores, but savvy movie studios still harness their marketing potential by giving copies to the press. Bridges himself has other motives. "Selfishly, I love to look at them," he admits. "I get transported right back to making the movie and seeing all those friends again."

But when shooting the lofty likes of Barbra Streisand, Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer and Sharon Stone, how does Bridges walk the fine line between co-star and pesky paparazzo? "I go out of my way to make sure it's okay," he says. "I tell them, 'Just give me a little look and I'll go away.' I try to be sensitive to them  and I hope they would tell me, 'Not right now' [if I'm in the way]. Usually, they like it because they get to have a little book at the end to remember the movie."